THURSDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2019

A Briton who came to Ireland with Saint Patrick, his uncle. He was ordained in Ardagh. He is one of the earliest Irish saints and gave the religious veil to Saint Brigid.

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Entrance Antiphon: Ps 105: 47

Save us, O Lord our God! And gather us from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, and make it our glory to praise you.

Collect

Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honour you with all our mind, and love everyone in truth of heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

First reading: Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24

What you have come to is nothing known to the senses: not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm; or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them. The whole scene was so terrible that Moses said: I am afraid, and was trembling with fright. But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s.

Psalm 47(48):2-4, 9-11

R) O God, we ponder your love within your temple.

1)The Lord is great and worthy to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain rises in beauty, the joy of all the earth.

2) Mount Zion, true pole of the earth, the Great King’s city! God, in the midst of its citadels, has shown himself its stronghold.

3) As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of our God, in the city of the Lord of hosts which God upholds for ever.

4) God, we ponder your love within your temple. Your praise, O God, like your name reaches the ends of the earth. With justice your right hand is filled.

Gospel Acclamation: Jn 15:15

Alleluia, alleluia!I call you friends, says the Lord, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. Alleluia!

Gospel: Mark 6:7-13

Jesus made a tour round the villages, teaching. Then he summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.’ And he said to them, ‘If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust from under your feet as a sign to them.’ So they set off to preach repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.

Prayer over the Offerings

O Lord, we bring to your altar these offerings of our service: be pleased to receive them, we pray, and transform them into the Sacrament of our redemption. Through Christ our Lord.

Nourished by these redeeming gifts, we pray, O Lord, that through this help to eternal salvation true faith may ever increase. Through Christ our Lord.

Meditation

Authority and power to do good.What kind of authority and power does the Lord want you to exercise on his behalf? Jesus gave his apostles power and authority to speak and to act in his name. He commanded them to do the works which he did: to heal the sick, to cast out evil spirits, and to speak the Word of God, the Good News of the Gospel which they had received from Jesus. When Jesus spoke of power and authority he did something unheard of; he wedded power and authority with self-sacrificing love and humility. The “world” and the “flesh” seek power for selfish gain. Jesus teaches us to use it for the good of our neighbour.